Bob Bralovehttp://www.dead.net/taxonomy/term/789/all
enNew Release from Bob Bralove and Tom "T.C." Constantenhttp://www.dead.net/features/batique/new-release-bob-bralove-and-tom-tc-constanten
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<center><div style="margin: 0pt 1em ! important; float: center;height:px;overflow:hidden;"><img border="0" src="/sites/default/files/dosehermanos.jpg" style="margin:0 !important;" border="0" width="374" /></div></center></div>
<p>Bob Bralove came to the Grateful Dead in 1987 to teach them MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) technology and swiftly became the band’s on-stage tech wizard, joining in on space with his own keyboard, eventually contributing to songs as a co-writer and producer.</p>
<p>Tom “T.C.” Constanten joined the Dead in 1968 and spent a year contributing mightily to one of the band’s most brilliant musical eras before moving on. </p>
<p>Together, they’re Dose Hermanos. They’ve made a lot of music over the past 17 years, but to this point it’s been largely in the realm of the psychedelic and electronic. Then they saw the two grand pianos at Prairie Sun studio, and inspiration flowered – in their ears alone, because the pianos were in different studios.</p>
<p>Wired together via headphones, they made their cues, entrances, and endings, Bob said, “by psychic transmission. You never know how much you rely on a nod, wink, or smile till you are blindfolded. I was worried about it when we started, but after the first take I realized it wasn’t a problem. We just knew what to do.”</p>
<p>The result is <em>Batique</em>, an exquisite and soulful series of improvised duets. Because it is acoustic, the subtleties are startlingly accessible, from the Aaron Copland-folk flavors in “Appalachian Summer” to the Stravinsky themes in “Tokyo Dawn.”</p>
<p>“Recording with acoustic pianos has allowed <em>Batique</em> to breathe in a big way,” said Bob recently. “It becomes all about touch, feel, and commitment. These tracks show Dose Hermanos at its best. We can finish each other’s musical thoughts in a way that still astonishes me.”</p>
<p>T.C. adds: “Long before there was ‘the cloud’ there were countless ‘clouds,’ arising organically, spontaneously - a gene pool of creativity, cultural conversations in metaspace, ideas tossed about among communities of artists, writers, musicians. <em>Batique</em> is the result of our diving in the deep end, willingly entering an uncharted realm, a vibrant playground where we make it all up as we go along.”</p>
<p>Bob and T.C.’s partnership has its roots in both their shared foundation in rock improvisation as well as formal training in composition and the musical avant-garde. T.C. studied with the greats – Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luciano Berio. Bob studied with the Pulitzer Prize winning Wayne Peterson before working with Stevie Wonder. Together, they’re Dose Hermanos – and they’re something else.</p>
<p><em>Batique</em> is now available at <a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/dosehermanos3" target="_blank">CDBaby</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ILXDXXO/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00ILXDXXO&linkCode=as2&tag=dead.net.web-20" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/batique-feat.-bob-bralove/id838534059?uo=4&at=11l4BK" target="_blank">iTunes</a>.</p><div class="field field-type-text field-field-summary">
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Bob Bralove came to the Grateful Dead in 1987 to teach them MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) technology and swiftly became the band’s on-stage tech wizard, joining in on space with his own keyboard, eventually contributing to songs as a co-writer and producer.
Tom “T.C.” Constanten joined the Dead in 1968 and spent a year contributing mightily to one of the band’s most brilliant musical eras before moving on.
Together, they’re Dose Hermanos. They’ve made a lot of music over the past 17 years, but to this point it’s been largely in the realm of the psychedelic and electronic. Then they saw the two grand pianos at Prairie Sun studio, and inspiration flowered – in their ears alone, because the pianos were in different studios. </div>
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http://www.dead.net/features/batique/new-release-bob-bralove-and-tom-tc-constanten#commentsBatiqueBob BraloveDose HermanosRelease InfoTomWed, 09 Apr 2014 23:32:31 +0000lilgoldie362786 at http://www.dead.netBob Bralove Has Both Hands Fullhttp://www.dead.net/features/dead-world-roundup/bob-bralove-has-both-hands-full
<p>So, what’s been happening with Bob Bralove—the former GD MIDI guru; Mickey and Bill’s partner in second set weirdness during the late ’80s and early ’90s; the genius behind both the exceptional <em>Infrared Roses</em> drumz-n-space CD and the instrumental group Second Sight (whose fine album marked one of Garcia’s last appearances outside the Dead); and many a mind-bending duet with ex-Dead keys man Tom Constanten in the ultra-trippy union known as Dose Hermanos?</p>
<div class="inlineimgright"><a href="/sites/default/files/u4/bralove.jpg" title="Bob Bralove" class="thickbox"><img src="/sites/default/files/u4/bralove.jpg" border="0" width="350" height="233" /></a>
<p><strong>Bob Bralove at home with computer and piano. That&#39;s<br />some of his trippy artwork on the wall.</strong></p>
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<p>“Well, I just finished a new record of solo piano called <em>Stories in Black and White</em>,” the always affable keyboard titan tells us from his San Francisco home overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. With visions of melodious George Winston or Keith Jarrett piano paintings dancing in my head, I suddenly remember who am I talking to and quickly understand that there’s bound to be something a little, er, <em>different</em> about Bralove’s approach to solo piano.</p>
<p>Though he has been playing piano since he was a wee lad, Bralove says that it’s only in recent years that he’s devoted himself to honing and deepening his keyboard skills, in part because of the influence of T.C. “I wasn’t playing much until Dose Hermanos came around,” he says. “I wasn’t working on my chops the way they needed to be worked on, but once you’re sitting next to Tom, you’ve got to kick up the gears just to keep up.” Indeed, T.C. is a true piano virtuoso, schooled in the classics and modern music. “Tom and I share a deep interest in the 20th century classical aesthetic,” he notes, adding that he’s been influenced by the piano work of Jarrett, Terry Riley, Bill Evans and many others—“anyone who’s at all adventurous,” he says. </p>
<p>Bralove recorded <em>Stories in Black and White</em> at home on a 1916 Steinway piano that once belonged to his father. “They’re improvisations, of course,” he says matter of factly. &quot;I was doing all these improvisations and I started recording them, but when I’d listen back I found I was sort of editing myself too quickly. I was so inside the music that I wasn’t letting things develop. So I did these sessions over a few months where I invited one or two people over as an audience. We’d start by eating a ‘cookie.’ I’d put some food in the oven, play a set, take a break; we’d eat dinner. And then I’d play a second set. So I did a series of these with a whole bunch of friends and it was really fun and I found that working that way it opened up my playing a lot and I got into some interesting areas.” As with many of his recent explorations, Bralove has devised spacey video accompaniment tied into his music, as well. </p>
<p>You can read more about <em>Stories in Black and White</em> and order your own copy now through Bob’s cool website—<a href="http://www.bobbralove.com" target="_blank" title="BobBralove.Com">bobbralove.com</a>—or through iTunes.</p>
<p>But wait, there’s more! Bob told us that he’s also been working on mixes for a forthcoming CD by the Psychedelic Keyboard Trio, an aggregation featuring Bralove, T.C. and the late, great Vince Welnick. “These are recordings we did here in my house about a year and a half ago,” he reveals. “We got Tom in for about a week, and Vince was around. We had just done a show in New Paltz [NY] which was like the second show we’d done together, and we realized something special was happening, so we figured, we better get this on record quick! So I had the Steinway in the living room wired down to the studio; I had a Hammond B-3 in the garage; I had a Fender Rhodes 88 in the basement, and three MIDI keyboards in the studio. And for the entire week we were like: ‘I’ve got an idea for the Steinway!’ ‘Let’s try this on the Fender Rhodes!’ Anybody could grab whatever they wanted and then when we started working really late at night, for my neighbor’s sake, we’d go into headphones in the studio and do MIDI stuff,” he chuckles. It’s mainly instrumental music, though “we also have this really great version of [Dylan’s] ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ that Tom does that’s just so wacky; the organ part he plays on it is <em>outrageous</em>. There are also a couple of Vinnie songs, and one or two of mine that might get on there.</p>
<p>“It was crazy. I was producing, engineering, composing and playing at the same time, and we’d have three people on three different floors all wired in…” he laughs at the recollection.</p>
<p>When we reached T.C. the next day, he said of the Trio’s work, “It’s utterly, totally wonderful; it was lightning in a bottle. It was Vince at his best because nobody was dumping on him; nobody was saying, ‘You better do this, boy.’ He was free to be himself. And we all brought out the best in each other. Some of it is radically new stuff.</p>
<p>“I’ve been playing with the mixes a lot,” Bralove offers. “On <em>Infrared Roses</em>, I liked to play with the sonic movement, but I’m finding with this material it’s wonderful to really feel like there are three distinct voices interacting, and if you play with it too much, the energy of listening and talking to each other through the music gets overwhelmed.”</p>
<p>We’ll let you know when the Psychedelic Keyboard Trio disc is ready to come out.</p>
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Blair Jackson </div>
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<p>So, what’s been happening with Bob Bralove—the former GD MIDI guru; Mickey and Bill’s partner in second set weirdness during the late ’80s and early ’90s; the genius behind both the exceptional <em>Infrared Roses</em> drumz-n-space CD and the instrumental group Second Sight; and many a mind-bending duet with ex-Dead keys man Tom Constanten in the ultra-trippy union known as Dose Hermanos?</p>
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http://www.dead.net/features/dead-world-roundup/bob-bralove-has-both-hands-full#commentsBob BraloveDead World RoundupMon, 09 Jul 2007 21:43:42 +0000Analise Dubner10148 at http://www.dead.netPhil, Bobby, Jerry & Bob Bralove - Desert Sky Pavilionhttp://www.dead.net/archives/1994/photos/phil-bobby-jerry-bob-bralove-desert-sky-pavilion
<div class="all-attached-images"><div class="image-attach-body image-attach-node-5347" style="width: 100px;"><a href="/features/phil-bobby-jerry-bob-bralove-desert-sky-pavilion"><img src="http://www.dead.net/sites/default/files/images/19940305_1714.thumbnail.jpg" alt="Phil, Bobby, Jerry &amp; Bob Bralove - Desert Sky Pavilion" title="Phil, Bobby, Jerry &amp; Bob Bralove - Desert Sky Pavilion" class="image image-thumbnail " width="100" height="67" /></a></div>
</div> <h3 class="location-locations-header">Location</h3>
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<span class="fn">Desert Sky Pavilion</span>
<span class="locality">Phoenix</span>, <span class="region">AZ</span>
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<p>Phil, Bobby, Jerry &amp; Bob Bralove (Far Right), Desert Sky Pavilion, Phoenix, AZ</p>
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<a href="/steve-schneider">Steve Schneider</a> </div>
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<a href="/band/bob-weir">Bob Weir</a> </div>
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<a href="/band/jerry-garcia">Jerry Garcia</a> </div>
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<a href="/band/phil-lesh">Phil Lesh</a> </div>
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<span class="date-display-single">Saturday, March 5, 1994</span> </div>
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http://www.dead.net/archives/1994/photos/phil-bobby-jerry-bob-bralove-desert-sky-pavilion#commentsBob BraloveConcertDesert Sky PavilionlivePhoenixPhotosStageWed, 25 Apr 2007 23:55:20 +0000Analise Dubner5348 at http://www.dead.netInfrared Roses - LP (Front)http://www.dead.net/archives/1991/artwork/infrared-roses-lp-front
<div class="all-attached-images"><div class="image-attach-body image-attach-node-9182" style="width: 100px;"><a href="/features/decd019-jpg"><img src="http://www.dead.net/sites/default/files/images/DECD019_0.thumbnail.jpg" alt="DECD019.jpg" title="DECD019.jpg" class="image image-thumbnail " width="100" height="100" /></a></div>
</div><p>Album Cover, Infrared Roses Cover Art: Jerry Garcia. Titles of the Music: Robert Hunter. Design: Bob Bralove. A selection of live space segments, produced by Bob Bralove.</p>
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<span class="date-display-single">Friday, November 1, 1991</span> </div>
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http://www.dead.net/archives/1991/artwork/infrared-roses-lp-front#commentsAlbum CoverArtworkBob BraloveCompilationGrateful Dead RecordsInfrared RosesliveWed, 25 Apr 2007 23:46:05 +0000Jonathan Lane5326 at http://www.dead.netInfrared Roses, Insidehttp://www.dead.net/archives/1991/artwork/infrared-roses-inside
<div class="all-attached-images"><div class="image-attach-body image-attach-node-4277" style="width: 43px;"><a href="/features/infrared-roses-inside"><img src="http://www.dead.net/sites/default/files/images/19911101_2461.thumbnail.jpg" alt="Infrared Roses, Inside" title="Infrared Roses, Inside" class="image image-thumbnail " width="43" height="100" /></a></div>
</div><p>Infrared Roses, Inside. Released by: Grateful Dead Records. Cover Art: Jerry Garcia. Titles of the Music: Robert Hunter. Design: Bob Bralove. A selection of live space segments, produced by Bob Bralove.</p>
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<span class="date-display-single">Friday, November 1, 1991</span> </div>
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http://www.dead.net/archives/1991/artwork/infrared-roses-inside#commentsAlbum CoverArtworkBob BraloveGrateful Dead RecordsMon, 23 Apr 2007 22:01:51 +0000Jonathan Lane4278 at http://www.dead.net